President Obama Signs Executive Order For Paid Sick Leave

President Obama issued an executive order today requiring firms that contact with the federal government to provide one hour of paid sick time for every thirty hours that an employee (with one of those firms) works.

The new rule will go into effect in 2017 and is limited to seven days of paid sick leave, reports The Washington Post.

President Obama's Labor Day announcement will likely benefit about American 300,000 workers, according to the White House.

The new sick paid rule will probably have the greatest effect on low-wage workers, who normally do not get that type of benefit, reports CNN.

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However, the executive order will not affect workers in private employment; that would take an act of Congress, and Republicans have historically opposed paid sick leave.

"The United States is the only country where the issue of a federal paid leave law has become a partisan issue," Labor Secretary Thomas Perez told CNN.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 61 percent of American workers in private industries have some type of paid sick leave.